Our personal commitment
Confidence is essential to community service and involvement. It is also requires commitment in the idea, the approach, the people behind it as well as in spending money on something good.
For this reason we have decided to establish a foundation to to seek out and support projects, which we believe in, rather than merely making donations to other organisations. Therefore personal commitment on the ground is essential. Thorough research, visits, interviews, contacts in the respective community, knowledge of language, culture and structures are needed to make effective use of limited resources.
To maintain this level of trust and to enable donors to see what happens to the funds they make available, we have decided to support selected projects not only financially, but also personally. Tobias H. Keller as the Managing Director and works on the identified projects on the ground and supports the community and staff with his knowledge and experience. He works as a project coordinator and a management consultant, ensuring that the highest level of efficiency is guaranteed in the use and control of the organisations resources. Tobias H. Keller is a lawyer and gathered excellent cross-cultural experiences during a one-year voluntary service with a charitable organisation in a South African township. He is fluent in German, English and Afrikaans.
Who we are
The founders
Dieter Keller, Founder, CEO and member of the Board of Trustees
Businessman
dieter@keller-stiftung.org
Gerda Keller, Founder and member of the Board of Trustees
Businesswoman
info@keller-stiftung.org
We come from normal middle-class families and grew up in a family environment, which has prepared us with love, affection and trust in our own strength to live in independence. With knowledge, skill, diligence and effort, we were able to build a life that today allows us social and financial independence and great personal freedoms. With our two (adult) children, Stefanie and Tobias, we were able to provide them with a carefree childhood and the best possible education. It was always important to us to give our children sense of security and self-determination through love, trust and respect - as we learnt from our parents. We have also been very furtunate: unlike our parents, we know only a life of freedom and peace, and were spared from major personal disasters. This is reason enough for us to give something back during this stage of our lives.
We have therefore decided to establish this foundation, into which we have placed a significant portion of our private assets.
The Foundation's Board
The Director of the Board is the legal representative of the Foundation. He manages the Foundation's assets and carries out the will of the founder.
Tobias H. Keller, General Manager, Member of the Board of Trustees
Lawyer
Tobias@keller-stiftung.org
Together with my father, I form the management board of the Keller - Foundation. My task is the practical implementation of the vision of the Foundation on site in South Africa. I identify suitable existing projects and conceive new, eligible projects which fulfil the Foundation's mission.
Through my postgraduate studies at the University of Cape Town, I had the opportunity to get to know South Africa. A few years later, I volunteered for a year at a charitable organisation as a consultant in a township and have thereby gained direct insight into the conditions people are living in. In this way I was able to grow in the community of the township and develop a high cross-cultural understanding for the needs of people. This knowledge allows me to have a unique insight into the needs of the projects which the Foundation supports. We feel that it is important to be a part of the community if one is to fully understand it and thereby give assistance where needed.
The Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees monitors and advises the Executive Board in accordance with the Foundation's statutes.
Stefanie Keller, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees
Personell- and organisational development
www.stefanie-keller.de
info@keller-stiftung.org
In my job I help people to develop and use their own unique abilities. I firmly believe that every human being has a unique contribution to the world, and it gives me great pleasure to guide people towards this discovery. I am well aware of the fact that it is a great privilege to live in a rich, secure and democratic part of the world and that there are many people who grow up under terrible conditions. The objectives of the Keller Foundation are therefore very close to my heart and I look forward to the opportunity of sharing my professional knowledge as a coach and trainer in the position of Chairwomen of the Board of Trustees.
Tom Keller, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Strategist
Together with the founders, Tobias H. Keller, Stefanie Keller and Tom Keller (grandson), form the Board of Trustees.